How late is late? You only know what you know

There has been massive radio silence from me - well there has been. Little time and no internet till a week or two ago - back to full time work, decorating and moving back to my old house in the UK. Anyway, this isn't about me so enough of my wimpering ....

In the last month there has been some excellent articles in the UK press which really deserve to be shared. The links to the articles are below and the headline points are right on the money:

• The best age to have a baby is between 20 and 35
• Don't wait too long for a baby: Women are SIX times more likely to suffer from fertility problems when 35 than at 25
• Doctors have issued the stark warning to couples as more and more women pursue careers and leave parenthood until their late thirties.

Now, of course, not all women leave or wait JUST because of their careers. Many don't meet their other halves until in their thirties so what do you do - we all love the idea of you meet and are married and get pregnant within six months of meeting but even at age 30 plus it doesn't work like that - life isn't the fairytale for all of us and it can take 2 or 3 years before you are settled enough to get married and start to have kids by which point you are out of the optimum period.

To me it highlights the massive challenge that comes with being a woman in the 21st century. They tell you to be financial independent and not to rely on men for financial security (well my dad certainly drummed that one into me and for good reason when he saw the amount of divorces around him and women left struggling to raise children with little money and relying on maintenance - he didn't want that to be me); but the flip side is you get an education and a career first in your twenties when historically and traditional women were having babies.

You'll read commentaries about how women just want to 'have it all' but that is just nonsense [my opinion]. My dad died many years ago but I am sure that he no more wished for me to have to have struggled with infertility as he did not wish for me to struggle financially because I was financial dependent on a man and left divorced. And that is a man's perspective for his daughter! Not a feminist view.

So what we need to do is make sure we educate women (and men) so that they can try and organise their lives (as best they can) to strive to achieve the two. It is harder for women possibly on this count than for men, I don't think we can argue against that. Women have more of a finite time-line to contend with than our male counterparts. But as women we have two options: to complain it isn't fair, and suffer the consequences; or do something and make sure we keep all young men and women better informed than we were by our predecessors.

I know which one I am picking and I hope you will too - share and educate our young men and women on the challenges of fertility. Awareness is key.

The Links:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1351237/Women-6-times-likely-suffer-fertility-problems-35-25.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8287719

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8287719/Doctors-warn-couples-not-to-leave-it-too-late-to-have-a-baby.html?sms_ss=email&at_xt=4d4ade58d7be4928%2C0

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/dec/31/pregnancy-mothers-fertility-children